Mystery artist behind BCPoliPortraits revealed
For the past year, things have been a little sketchy in Victoria.
In April of 2017, the Twitter account @bcpoliportraits appeared. It featured a steady stream of crudely drawn likenesses of the politicians and journalists that frequent the legislature — from Premier John Horgan to Postmedia’s Mike Smyth and Vaughn Palmer. And of course, Keith Baldrey, a frequent target of @bcpoliportraits. The Global TV political journalist has been drawn 12 times. All anyone knew was that the por- traitist had to be an insider, as the sketches also included clerks and security guards stationed in areas off-limits to the public. Pressed for an identity by Postmedia recently, the artist responded with a sketch of a ghost.
She’s not a ghost. Her name is Zoe Duhaime. The 23-year-old is a recent University of Victoria graduate, and was part of the B.C. legislative internship program, which wrapped up Thursday with the end of the spring sitting.
Duhaime said that she began the account “100 per cent for the fun and delight of it.”
It sure seemed to delight the #bcpoli community.
For the past year, it’s been seen as an honour to be sketched by @bcpoliportraits.
The account came up often, including one memorable moment when B.C. Green party Leader Andrew Weaver mentioned Duhaime’s handiwork in the legislature.
“Honourable Speaker, I was looking at the B.C. portraits Twitter feed,” said Weaver, explaining why he was slow to stand for introductions.
Duhaime was so committed to her sketches that she even switched seats.
“We are fortunate enough to have seats in the speaker’s galley,” she explained. “But you don’t actually see half the room. I figured out about halfway through session that if I sat downstairs and watched the TV, I had an impeccable view.”
Now that Duhaime has revealed her identity, will the sketches continue?
“To be honest, I haven’t really figured that out yet,” she said. “Because it’s not the same joke if people know who it is.”